How to Get iMovie Work With H.265/HEVC Footage

H.265 will surely become the mainstream video codec soon. If you got some H.265 files and want to edit your H.265 videos on Mac OS X, iMovie could be your good choice. But can iMovie support H.265 codec? The answer is NO. Currently, H.265 codec lacks of compatibility with the Apple ecosystem including iMovie program. To solve the issue, a practical way is to convert H.265 to iMovie edit-friendly format. The article is the very one working on the H.265 to iMovie Mac conversion.

To transcode H.265 to iMovie format easily and quickly, Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac, a professional yet easy-to-use Mac H.265 encoder, is highly recommended. This program features high efficiency and seamless conversion. By running it, there is no need to set the codec yourself, the program has an optimized preset for iMovie (iMovie'11 included). With it, you can convert H.265 files to Apple InterMediate Codec encode MOV files, ensuring maximum editing quality and efficiency when working with iMovie.

Besides, the H.265 encoder also can convert H.265(HEVC) files to more editing tools with professional codec, like ProRes for Final Cut Pro, MPEG-2 for Adobe Premiere Pro, DNxHD for Avid Media Composer, etc. What's more, the built-in video editor allows you to modify your videos by trimming, cropping, adjusting video effects and more. Below is the step-by-step tutorial on how to make H.265 codec compatible with iMovie.

Free download the Mac H.265 to iMovie Converter trial version:

(Note: Click here for OS X 10.5)

How to convert and import H.265 video to iMovie

Step 1. Import H.265 files

Launch the H.265 to iMovie converter. Here you can directly drag and drop the H.265 files to the converter, or go to Add button to load the H.265 videos.

Step 2. Choose iMovie as the output format

Click Format bar to choose the format for output. For editing H.265 in iMovie, you can choose iMovie and Final Cut Express -> Apple InterMediate Codec(AIC)(*.mov); it's best for iMovie editing.

Tip: Click the Settings icon to adjust video and audio parameters on the Profile Setting as you need to get the best quality video.

Step 3. Start H.265 to iMovie conversion on Mac

Now click the "Convert" button, and then leave the Mac H.265 encoder to do the rest automatically for you. After the H.265 to iMovie Mac conversion, go to "File" > "import" > "movies" and then you can freely use your H.265 files in iMovie.